South Korea is building a $40 billion city designed to eliminate the need for cars

The International Business District (IBD) in Songdo, South Korea.Gale International

When residents of the International Business District (IBD) in
Songdo, South Korea go to work, pick up their kids from school,
or shop for groceries, driving is optional.

That's because the
$40 billion district - currently a work-in-progress about the
size of downtown Boston - was designed to eliminate the need for
cars.

A project that began in 2002, the area prioritizes mass transit,
like buses, subways, and bikes, instead of road traffic,
according to Stan Gale, chairman of Gale International, the
developer behind the IBD.

When completed by 2020, the district will span 100 million square
feet. It's located on the northwest side of South Korea.

Take a look at the IBD's plan below.

In Songdo City, South Korea, Gale International is building the International Business District (IBD) on reclaimed land along the Yellow Sea.

Consenti Associates

From the first planning stage, the developers aimed to make the district eco-friendly.

Gale International

One strategy was designing the area to reduce the need for cars.

Gale International

BD features a mixed-use urban plan, meaning its retail, office space, parks, medical facilities, and schools are all close to housing.

Gale International

Apartment buildings and businesses were built 12 minutes within
bus or subway stops.

Most non-residential buildings are walking distance from everything else.

Gale International

Fifteen miles of bike lanes go through the district, connecting to a larger 90-mile network in Songdo City.

Reuters

Around 40% of the area is reserved for green space (about double that of New York City), which also encourages residents to walk, Gale said.

The development is shooting for LEED certification at a neighborhood scale, and plans to recycle 40% of the water used.

Songdo City produces a third fewer greenhouse gases compared to another city of the same size.

However, some residents have complained that the IBD and the larger Songdo City are too remote from Seoul, the country's economic, political, and cultural hub. It takes over an hour to reach the capital.

Around 70,000 people work in Songdo, which is far fewer than the 300,000 people the city government had envisioned.

Reuters

For that reason, it could be too early to say whether Songdo will become a thriving urban center.

Gale International

"In a lot of ways, it's the city Koreans want to show the world,
in that it's a clean, futuristic-looking place with no visible
poverty," Colin Marshall, a Seoul-based essayist who writes about
cities, told
The Los Angeles Times.

When CityLab's Linda Poon visited Songdo this spring, she spoke with residents who have had trouble building community in the new city.